Postings by Zoe's Family

Ill go ahead and post the whole progression here. It is quite long so warning there

This all started off as Zoe limping/holding her hind left paw in the air. I monitored it for a week and checked on it often, never being able to pinpoint the problem so I thought it was likely to be just a sprain or twist. One day when checking the paw i noticed the pad was detached which is what i thought was revealed as the injury that caused the limp.

I took her to the vet that night, and they decided to bandage her leg. This vet, in the end, turned out to be a HORRIBLE experience. It is a 24 hour emergency hospital. Anyways initially they told me to have her bandage changed in 7-10 days. I called back a few days later cause that seemed odd, and they told me to take her in and have it changed that day which I did.

They decided after a week or so to remove the bandage, and I monitored her/limited her activity. I noticed on Tuesday a lot of *****/sticky fluid inbetween her toes seemingly caused by a different pad. It did dry up by the time i got there and a vet tech came out, just glanced at it, and said it was fine. 2 days later i noticed the same thing, and took her back. This time was seemingly the only time a vet even looked at her, and noticed much much bigger problems. First off her whole leg was swollen, she also had wounds on the side of her foot, at least one other pad, and a wound that was very infected near the first bend of her leg, with dead skin covering it that would detach (hasnt yet) eventually. This vet shaved her leg, and opted not to bandage it, leave the wound exposed and for us to care for it by keeping it dry as well as doing epsom salt baths 3 times a day and gave us an antibiotic.

We did this, and took her back to see the same vet a few times, everything seemed to be improving, swelling was going down drastically, the dead skin was starting to detach etc. She wanted to do X-Rays to ensure the infection didnt impact the underlying bone at all and i agreed and the results showed it didnt. She suggested setting up a surgical consultation to consider closing the wound surgically. Me already being fed up with these hospital, because they simply didnt even notice this major wound on her leg after 5+ visits, decided to go elsewhere.

The next vet decided to bandage it, said surgery was a bad idea because there wasnt enough skin to work with and keep it closed, and gave us a stronger version of the same antibiotic as well as an anti-inflammatory and pain med.

Things have continued to progress negatively in some ways positively in others. The wound is now bleeding regularly which the vet says is a sign of it healing (she says its a normal/expected bleeding ulcer that will now heal).

The wound on the side of her foot has closed up, but is now hard, to me it sounded like like scar tissue but the vet seemed more concerned over it than i would have expected. The hind part or Zoe's leg also had some scarring, and she expected that would also start to bleed and maybe potentially fall off. However the last bandage change did indicate this, but there are also a few smaller cuts in the same area that raised the Vets concern.

Now also her front paw is showing signs or pad damage, a few of her toes had pads detach and fall off much like the hind leg did. Her pads are very dry, and ive recently bought some booties and started using 100% petrolium jelly on her to help remedy that.

The vet however seems to see a correlation between the pads on multiple feet having issues. Along with the additional small wounds near her hind leg. She seems to think there is potentially an auto-immune issue, where her immune system is attacking her own body.

Is this a feasible concern? Zoe does get crated over night, and she doesnt like it, so it seems like the back of her legs are possibly just being irritated by spending more time in the crate than usual, but perhaps im just downplaying that

I recently posted this in the answers but i realized it doesnt operate like a forum in that i cant post replies on it.
A few years ago i came onto this board seeking advice to find a purebred golden retriever. I found a breeder that seemed to be good and got my puppy. Now she is having health problems, the vet is wanting to run blood tests fearing that it might be a systemic problem. I found out not long ago that the puppies mother died of cancer at roughly two years of age.

I emailed her breeder but I havent gotten a response yet, i just emailed her saying that there is some health concerns and kept it really general at this point.

Im also wondering if what the vet is saying makes sense to you all who are more knowledgeable than i am (hoping perhaps that there are some vets here)

What initially happened was a pad injury. The vets later discovered a pretty bad wound on her leg near the first joint. That became infected and and was very swollen. The swelling has subsided, the wound appears to be healing, but there are other pads that are detaching on other paws. That along with the fact that one of the wounds seems to be worse now than when the vet first saw it has her fearing it is an autoimmune thing where her immune systems is attacking her own body.

Have you ever really seen that happen? i can post more details about everything if someone requests it but this post is already long as it is

I got an email today from the owner of Zoe's mother saying that she passed at the beginning of last year because of a Brain Tumor. This of course raises some concern about the health of my pup. Are Tumors generally Genetic? if so i dont have pet insurance, how do i go about getting it so i can afford to get screenings if need be and for the treatment if she were to have the same condition?

I emailed back asking specifically what kind of tumor it was to provide more info here but i havent heard back yet

My Zoe doesn't have any problems with Cats, she lived with one since i got her at 4 months old and we never had any issues, the cats just tend to run and shed chase for a bit then give up.

As far as breeders i got her from Fireside retrievers, they have great records, Zoes lineage is complete to back i think 5 generations, all important certifications are done of course. I was lucky enough to find her given that Push (triple champion golden) is her Grandfather. So you know that the breeder uses fantastic dogs when breeding. The communication with the Breeder is excellent too, she gave me great advice on where to find food and shes willing to do a full AKC registration if you do the certifications for your pup if youd be interested in breeding her in the future.

The breeder is even willing to do the breeding and help raise the pups for you.

Now they are field bred Goldens which means they are a bit smaller and the activity level should be higher which may work out perfectly for you. Temperement from what ive seen with Zoe is fantastic!

I saw Zoe get stung by a scorpion...it looked like potentially a few times.

I saw her nipping at the wall and then back off and shake her head, i looked closer and saw that it was a scorpion! im guessing she got stung by it while she was nipping at it which means she potentially got stung in the mouth.

She hasnt shown and reactions yet...no swelling and shes chewing on her bone just fine now...should i seek vet attention or no since she hasnt had any reactions

why is everyone so ready to jump on and question my motives but not offer any advice on the food once i explain that the situation is not bad? ive researched taste of the wild and it does look to be a good food, what other options are out there?

thats previous and no longer a concern. i dont live with luna's owner anymore and even if i did it wouldnt have been a problem i just didnt update. Zoe and Luna are best buds, and love each other to death. in fact Luna's owner went on vacation and Zoe didnt wana eat the entire time luna was gone (i of course made sure she did)